Mind Body techniques like visualization and meditation are used by successful people of all walks of life. Take Arianna Huffington, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jackson for instance. Below is an excerpt from a September 2014 interview in the New York Times with Arianna Huffington and Kobe Bryant in which they discussed the topic.

PG (PHILIP GALANES): Speaking of breaking things down, I noticed, reading “Thrive,” that the pillars of wellness must be second nature to athletes, who are all about peak performance. You meditate?

AH (ARIANNA HUFFINGTON): Every day.

KB (KOBE BRYANT): [N.B.A. coach] Phil Jackson introduced me to it. When I was 18, Michael Jackson tried to get me to meditate. He could sit in meditation for seven hours. But I couldn’t sit still for 20 minutes.

PG: Michael Jackson?

KB: Yeah. “Thriller” Michael Jackson.

PG: When did Phil Jackson come along?

KB: His first season with the Lakers was when I was 21. And I dived right into meditation. I always knew the game carried a deeper meaning, more than X’s and O’s and strategy.

AH: Phil Jackson was a pioneer bringing this into sports. He helped give meditation, and other ways to renew ourselves, a legitimacy for businesspeople and macho guys, who tended to identify it with New Age-y, flaky stuff. Suddenly, meditation became performance enhancement, as well as part of the journey of discovery.

KB: It’s crazy to me that meditation is viewed as hokey. Just look at the people who’ve done phenomenal things. Do they meditate? Absolutely.

Whenever you have doubts about whether or not you should continue your mind body practice, just remind yourself of Kobe Bryant’s words, “Just look at the people who’ve done phenomenal things. Do they meditate? Absolutely.”

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